About Catharina Belgica van Oranje-Nassau, Gräfin zu Hanau-Münzenberg

Countess Catharina Belgica of Nassau (Antwerp, July 1578 – Hanau 12 April 1648) was the third daughter of William the Silent and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.

[edit]Biography

Countess Catharina Belgica married Philip Louis II, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg by whom she had ten children. The Countess became regent for her son Philipp Moritz after her husband's death in 1612. When emperor Ferdinand II requested passage through Hanau, she refused him entry. Her territories were ravaged by imperial troops in 1621. In 1626 her son took over government.

During a wedding feast in Dillenburg that lasted from 23 October 1596 - 3 November 1596, he married Catherine Belgica, producing the following children:

Charlotte Louise (1597–1649 Kassel), not married

Daughter (29 July 1598 - 9 August 1598), died unbaptised

Philipp Ulrich (2 January 1601 - 7 April 1604 Steinau)

Amalia Elisabeth (1602–1651 Kassel), married to Wilhelm V of Hesse-Kassel

Katharina Juliane (1604–1668 Hanau), married first on 11 September 1631 to Count Albert Otto II. of Solms-Laubach, Rödelheim and Assenheim and second on 31 March 1642 to Moritz Christian von Wied-Runkel

Philipp Moritz (1605–1638), buried in the Marienkirche in Hanau

Wilhelm Reinhard (1607–1630 Aachen), buried in the Marienkirche in Hanau

Heinrich Ludwig (1609–1632) died during the Siege of Maastricht

Friedrich Ludwig (27 July 1610 - 4 October 1628 Paris), buried in the family tomb of the Duke of Bouillon in Sedan